A hydrostatic transmission of this type is known and used in many technical fields. When using axial piston machines the axial piston motor is usually arranged remote from the axial piston pump and is connected to the axial piston pump by lines in an open or closed circuit. In this way a simple driving connection can be made independently of where the axial piston pump and the axial piston motor are installed and, depending on the type of pump and motor, a transmission having a predeterminable transmission ratio can be provided at the same time.
There are however also types of application in which a separate arrangement of the pump and motor is not desired or possible, e.g. in particular for continuously variable transmissions in small vehicles, such as lawn mowers, local transport vehicles and the like. Long connections are likewise not desirable for adapting the speed of auxiliary units to internal combustion engines. The same applies in particular to distributing the speed of electric motors which have to be arranged with the units to be driven by them in a restricted space.